Retraining Soubi
by TinkerKitty
Summary: Seimei is his master, and his word is absolute. No matter how much Soubi wished otherwise. Ritsuka wants to help, and decides to try and retrain Soubi so that he never has to listen to Seimei again.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Loveless. If I did, Ritsuka wouldn't have his ears. *conveniently ignores the fact that he's only 12*

A/N: This chapter is set between manga chapters 60-63, and is pretty much in Soubi's pov, quoting conversation between Seimei and Soubi while hinting on what Ritsuka says. If you've read the manga you know what Ritsuka's conversation is about, but I give enough information for those who haven't read it to understand the basics, since what I really want is what's going on with Soubi, not Ritsuka.

"Seimei's word is absolute." _This isn't going to end well._

"Don't submit to his will like that!"

_You say that like I have a choice. We all know that I must follow Seimei's orders above everyone else's. I can't even obey Ritsuka if it conflicts with Seimei's previous orders. _Soubi left his thoughts long enough for an _oh shit, Seimei is putting Ritsuka under a spell!_

"Ritsuka, don't answer to him!" Soubi watched the exchange between Ritsuka and Seimei, and listened as Seimei kept trying to twist Ritsuka's words to make him sound like the bad guy. And, it Ritsuka's mind, it seemed to be working. That just won't do. "Seimei, please don't make Ritsuka suffer."

Seimei decided it was time to do something about Soubi. "Shut up."

"Don't make Ritsuka afraid."

"Ritsuka isn't afraid of me, like he is of you! I told you to shut up, yet you're ready to speak again. I won't forgive you for that." Seimei briefly wondered why Soubi didn't stop talking the first time, then decided it didn't matter. As long as he obeyed direct orders.

"Ritsuka, don't believe anything Seimei says."

"Be quiet!"

"Ritsuka has a mind of his own, and is old enough to use it."

Seimei hit the window behind him. "Okay then. I'll make him think on his own. You, you know, I thought about bringing you with me. Not anymore. This is where you can stay. Branded as a traitor. Do me a favor and break this window. I'm afraid I'm not quite strong enough to do it myself. I'm thinking now is the best time to take my leave. Still, at this moment, you are my fighter!"

Sometimes Soubi hates being right. Right now, it was definite that this encounter will not end well. And it's going to be his fault. He wasn't strong enough to disobey Seimei, and because of that he got away. "Please forgive me."

Soubi didn't care what happened after that. He just wanted to sulk – and perhaps die – in silence, away from everyone. If he said nothing but 'no', maybe they'd get the hint. Of course not, because Ritsuka is just too stubborn for his own good.

Ritsuka insisted that he wasn't a traitor, that he had no choice and was not to blame. In fact, nobody blames Soubi, except for Soubi himself. He wanted to run away and never see Seimei again, because he knew he would never disobey him. After all, Seimei had said so himself, and Seimei's word is absolute.

No matter how much Soubi wished otherwise.

This story is going to have a lot of psychological stuff in it. Really, you can't expect Soubi go from being abused to being taken care of and not have a few mental issues. The exact reasoning will be explained in a different chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Loveless, nor do I make any money from writing this.

WARNINGS: OOC, random (not very humorous) humor

This will probably be the only time I'm glad I took psychology. I never would have thought of this story if I hadn't taken that class. I did an essay on something that made me think of how Soubi was treated when he was younger, and I went from there. So, yeah, there's no real outline or anything.

* * *

When Ritsuka was certain Soubi was asleep (then again, he's never certain about anything when it comes to Soubi), he walked out of the room to go find Ritsu. Never mind the fact that it was late, everyone else was probably asleep, and he had no idea where Ritsu was. Seeing as he recently had his eyes gouged out, Ritsuka decided that the infirmary was a good place to start. If only he knew where the infirmary was.

It wasn't until he ran into a door that Ritsuka looked up, and was glad to see that he had (literally) run into the infirmary. If he's lucky, he'll find Ritsu _and_ some aspirin.

"Ritsuka?" a high-pitched voice asked.

"Huh? Oh, hello Nagisa-san. How are you? Is there any aspirin in here? Do you know where Ritsu-san is?"

"Calm down Ritsuka. I'm fine, there's aspirin over here – though you wouldn't need it if you didn't run into the door – and Ritsu is right in front of you."

"Oh, right." Ritsuka blushed. Of all the times to get nervous, it had to be in front of Soubi's teacher. "You're Soubi's sensei, right?"

"I am. Did you need something?"

Ritsuka mumbled a "thanks" when Nagisa handed him the medicine, then focused on Ritsu again. "Who… who is Soubi's real sacrifice?"

"Excuse me?"

"All of the other fighter-sacrifice pairs had their name somewhere on their body, and in the same place. Soubi has 'BELOVED' under his neck, but Seimei didn't have a scar on him."

"You're pretty smart, for a kid." Nagisa laughed at Ritsuka's pout. "We don't know what happened to Soubi's sacrifice."

"I trained him to be a blank – a fighter any sacrifice could use. I gave him to Seimei to use until he found his true fighter, and then Seimei gave him to you. No one knows where the Loveless fighter is, and I don't need him, so I didn't see the point in taking Soubi back."

"Take him back? But Seimei ordered Soubi to stay with me, and for him S-"

"Seimei's word is absolute. I know he says that, but I am still his sensei, so my orders over-ride Seimei's." _If worded in exactly the right way. That brat probably knows, too._

"If Soubi's a blank," Ritsuka made a face. That sounded so degrading. "Then can he be retrained?"

Retrained? Ritsu never thought of that one. He thought for a few moments. "Theoretically, I suppose it could be possible. But, do you even know how to train a fighter?"

"Nope, but I'll figure something out."

Nagisa looked at him. "You seem very determined about this. Why?"

"Soubi doesn't want to obey Seimei anymore. He's so sad and depressed now. I don't want Soubi to be sad." Ritsuka looked up with wide eyes. "Will you help me?"

"So… adorable…. I will help you!" Because, really, how was Nagisa supposed to say no to that face?

Ritsuka's face lit up when he smiled. "Thank you!"

"So, to start of -"

Ritsu interrupted. "There's a book in my desk, top right draw, black leather cover. Get -."

"This is no time to be talking about books, Ritsu! We have to help Ritsuka."

Ritsu's eyebrow twitched. "If you would let me finish. There is a journal. I kept track of how I trained Soubi in there. If you know how he was trained, it might help you find a new way to train him."

"Alright Ritsuka! Let's go to Ritsu's office!"

"Nagisa-san… is it really necessary to yell? It's pretty late, after all." Ritsuka tried not to cringe. Her normal voice was irritating enough, and now she's yelling. _Maybe I should have stayed in bed._

"Right, sorry. Anyways, let's go. Then you need to get to bed before Soubi notices. I doubt he'll be happy if he finds out you talked to Ritsu."

"Ah, that's right." Ritsuka turned back to Ritsu. "Thanks for the help, but you're still a bastard for taking Soubi's ears."

"He told you about that?"

Ritsuka gasped. "You weren't supposed to admit it!"

"So he didn't tell you?"

Ritsuka turned and walked away, muttering something about 'old perverted bastards' and 'must be where Soubi gets it from.' Nagisa agreed.

* * *

After retrieving the journal, Ritsuka made his way back to his and Soubi's room. He opened the door to see Soubi staring at it.

"Oh! Hey Soubi. How long have you been up?" _Uh-oh. Please don't ask questions._

"Since you left. I was getting worried. What were you doing?"

"I.. a book was recommended for me, so I went to get it before I forgot." Ritsuka held up the journal. _Please don't ask any more questions!_

"You're face is red. Do you have a fever? Maybe I should take you to the infirmary."

"No! No, that's not necessary. It's been a long day, I just need to sleep. Good night."

Soubi gave him a look, upset that Ritsuka was hiding something from him. _Then again, I hide things from him all the time._ "Good night, Ritsuka." He turned off the light and slipped under the covers, next to Ritsuka.

It must have been a really long day for Ritsuka. He was already asleep, and to Soubi's surprise (and pleasure) curled up to the warmth the older man provided. Soubi chuckled. "So cute."

* * *

I know I write short chapters, and I'm sorry. I thought about writing more, but decided that this would be a good place to stop, since the next chapter (next part, if I had put it in here) will begin in the morning.


End file.
